<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Mated to a Colotti six-speed gearbox, the V8 engine was installed in an unusually low spaceframe chassis. Suspension was by double wishbones all-round with the coil springs and dampers at the front fitted inboard. With a very small frontal area and an exceptionally low weight the ATS Tipo 100 looked like a top contender on paper. So much so that the team managed to enlist the services of 1961 World Champion Phil Hill, who had also jumped the Ferrari ship. He was joined by another former Ferrari employee Giancarlo Baghetti.

Problems with completing the ATS factory caused the competition debut of the Tipo 100 to be postponed to the Belgian Grand Prix, halfway through the 1963 season. Looking at the state of the two cars, it was obviously still a rushed debut and neither car made to the halfway mark of the 32 lap race. The cars were further developed throughout the season, but it did not improve the performance or reliability much. In ten attempts, a Tipo 100 only managed to reach the finish once; seven laps down on the leader. Chiti had a new car ready on the drawing board, but it never materialized.

At the end of the 1963 season, the team fell apart and ironically the assets were bought by Count Volpi, which he used to finally construct his much desired Serenissima cars. Sadly, they made a similar impression as the ATS cars. Together with the two Formula 1 cars, ATS also constructed between eight and ten examples of the 2500 GT mid-engined sports-cars. One of the Tipo 100s was bought by a British team, who used many of the mechanicals for the Derrington-Francis car raced once during the 1964 Formula 1 season, again with little success.<< Prev Page 2 of 2